- Ye Jingsi
- BBC Chinese reporter from Hong Kong
On October 10, 1911, the Hubei revolutionary armed forces who followed the China League launched the Wuchang Uprising to overthrow the Manchu and Qing feudal regimes and establish the Republic of China. The Double Ten was designated as National Day. Hong Kong, as the predecessor of Sun Yat-sen’s integration and founding of the United League, the Xingzhonghui General Association, planned the revolution, and was also the place where Sun Yat-sen was educated. Since then, Hong Kong has become associated with the two terms “Xinhai Revolution” and “Double Ten Festival”.
Since the separation of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in 1949, Hong Kong under British colonial rule has celebrated the National Day of the People’s Republic of China. There have been occasional conflicts with groups celebrating the National Day of the Republic of China. After the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, the celebration of Double 10th Festival has gradually become a niche event in Hong Kong; in 2020, a 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19; new crown virus) epidemic, coupled with the promulgation of the “Hong Kong National Security Law” by Beijing, double 10th Festival activities are almost suspended.
In 2021, on the occasion of the 110th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution held by the Pro-organizational Societies in Mainland China and Hong Kong, the event “Celebrating Double Ten” was labelled “Taiwan Independence” by the Hong Kong government, and it was extended to the Taipei and Beijing cross-strait affairs authorities. The exchange of fire between people.
The pro-Taiwan groups that the BBC Chinese contacted expressed with emotion that there are no plans to hold double 10th commemorative activities this year. Taiwanese scholars familiar with the situation in Hong Kong believe that as the Kuomintang’s use of the CCP declines, the pro-Taiwan overseas Chinese groups in Hong Kong will inevitably face squeeze.
Once friendly
As a consortium of trade unions, the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Unions has always had a good relationship with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and pro-Beijing organizations, even though the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Unions are the number one pro-Taiwan organization in Hong Kong.
The chairman of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions, Li Guoqiang, is 65 years old this year. He has joined the trade union for more than 30 years and has witnessed the changes of pro-Taiwan groups identified with the KMT as their identity over the years.
“I think we actually support the position of (cross-strait) reunification. The Liaison Office (the Liaison Office of the Central Government of China in Hong Kong) should be clear.” Li Guoqiang told the BBC Chinese reporter.
But he admitted that the Taiwan Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Hong Kong Central Committee has seldom interacted with the trade unions in recent years.
The Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union was established on September 9, 1948. It currently has about 30 member unions with a total of 6,000 to 7,000 members. The emblem of the trade union has the same blue sky and white sun as the emblem of the Chinese Kuomintang. The map of China below is the so-called “Begonia Map”, showing that the territory includes Outer Mongolia, which has long been independent as Mongolia.
Turning to the commemorative special issue celebrating the 70th anniversary of the meeting in 2018, you can see in turn, Wu Dunyi, then Chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, Zhang Jianzong, then Chief Secretary of Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Luo Zhiguang, the current Secretary of Labor and Welfare.
In early October 2021, the senior executive member of the trade union Wang Shaoxian passed away. He Qiming, the deputy director of the Hong Kong Labour and Welfare Bureau, and the Legislative Councillors Huang Guojian and Pan Zhao averagely attended the ceremony. They represented two pro-Beijing trade unions. Organizations-Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (Federation of Trade Unions) and Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Labor Associations (Federation of Labor Unions).
Hong Kong’s Blue Sky and White Sun Flag
Outsiders talking about pro-KMT people and organizations in Hong Kong can easily think of the bungalow area in Tiujingling, which was cleared in 1996 and known as “Little Taiwan.” Li Guoqiang grew up in another wooden house district in Jiulongzai where many rightist supporters once lived. In 1956, when he was born, the “Double Ten Riot” occurred in the adjacent Sham Shui Po when residents were prevented from displaying red flags on the ground.
However, during the rest of the British colonial period, it was not a problem to publicly hang the flag to celebrate Double Ten. Li Guoqiang still remembered that he led the union staff to plant red flags with blue sky and white sun on the way along Nathan Road in Kowloon. On October 10th, 1997, someone planted a red flag with many blue sky and white sun on a footbridge in Causeway Bay. The red flag was taken away by the police. Li Guoqiang recalled that since October 10 celebrations were mostly held in restaurants, and of course the flag-raising of Qingshan Red House in Tuen Mun, New Territories. present.
Even so, on the Double Tenth Day of 1998, Ye Guohua, the then Special Advisor to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Tung Chee Hwa, attended the Hong Kong and Kowloon Industrial Group’s dinner for the first time as an official of the SAR government. Ye Guohua told the media at the time that he had established a tacit understanding with Zheng Anguo, general manager of China Travel Service, Taiwan’s representative office in Hong Kong, and that the semi-official double tenth convention and cocktail party sponsored by China Travel Service behind the scenes should not display the Republic of China flag or show “National Day”. Typefaces; the activities organized by the civil society, how the venue is arranged, what slogans to shout, what songs to sing, and what banners to hang are the affairs of the civil society.
The Qingshan Red Mansion Double Ten Festival celebration, which was originally considered safe and sound, changed in early 2017. A group of residents of Honglou belonging to a private house asked Zhu Kaidi, a member of the then-democratic non-party legislative council, for help, claiming that he was facing forced evictions. It was revealed that the Honglou was resold to a mainland Chinese businessman in November 2016. According to legend, Sun Yat-sen and another The red house that Huang Xing, the leader of the Tongmenghui, used to plan the anti-Qing revolution is at stake.
After public criticism and protests by pan-democratic groups and pro-Taiwan groups, the Red House was listed as a tentative monument. The new owners applied for government maintenance funds and accepted the clause that no demolition was allowed within ten years. The crisis seemed to be resolved. However, the Red Mansion building was partially demolished, and the Zhongshan Park built by pro-Taiwan groups next to it began to fall into disrepair. Although passers-by can actually come and go freely, during the Double Ten Festival of 2018 and 2019, pro-Taiwan groups were forced to retreat to a small lawn about 160 meters away to hold the flag-raising ceremony because the owners were not allowed to use Zhongshan Park.
On the day of Double Ten in 2019, Hong Kong’s “anti-sent to China” demonstrations have not yet subsided. In the evening of the same day, some people waved red flags in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, and riot police were present to stop and check passers-by. Later, some demonstrators planted red flags on the fence of Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station.
On October 10th, 2020, the “Hong Kong National Security Law” has been promulgated. The small lawn on government land outside the Red House has been planted with thorny plants, Japanese sunflower and agave. More than 20 people who entered Zhongshan Park pushed and pushed, including Mak Yecheng, the vice chairman of the Yuen Long District Council and chairman of the Haihua Yuen Long Service Center. According to reports, the police officers guarding the periphery of the Red Building intercepted and checked the crowds one by one.
Later that day, a video of several young people holding their own flag raising ceremony in Zhongshan Park was circulated on the Internet. In the clip, all faces were blocked. The uploader was the Shenzhou Youth Service Agency, a pro-Taiwan group established in 1977. The BBC Chinese reporter tried to contact the representative of the China Youth Service Agency for interviews, but has never received a response.
When celebrating Double Ten is equivalent to “dividing China”
Mai Yecheng has been the organizer of the Red House New Year’s Day and Double Ten’s flag-raising ceremonies for many years. Under the wave of district councilors’ resignation related to the “Hong Kong National Security Act”, he was regarded as a democratic member of Parliament and resigned in July and announced Withdraw from politics. The BBC Chinese reporter asked Mai Yecheng in mid-September whether the double tenth flag raising ceremony would be held this year. He was informed that there would be no flag raising ceremony and evening party this year. He also declined the BBC Chinese interview invitation.
At this time, a new “definition” was introduced.
On September 23, Hong Kong’s “Sing Tao Daily” published an interview with the Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Deng Bingqiang. Deng Bingqiang stated that there may be “serious violations” related to the “Hong Kong National Security Law” on the Double Ten Day.
Deng Bingqiang said: “If you really want to separate Taiwan from China in your heart, we must find evidence that proves what you want in your heart and what you have done.”
“Anyone who intends to separate Taiwan from China is a serious crime. You must first ask yourself if you have this intention. If you have no such intention, why do you want to celebrate this day?”
Li Lizhen, deputy chairman of the Taiwan Mainland Commission, responded to Deng Bingqiang’s remarks on the same day: “The Republic of China is a sovereign country, and Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China. Mr. Sun Yat-sen’s uprising in 1911 overthrew the feudal autocracy of the Qing Dynasty and created China. In the Republic of China, the process of revolution was very closely related to Hong Kong, so Hong Kong people from all walks of life held celebrations.”
“We hope that the Hong Kong government can face up to historical facts without excessive interpretation, and should protect the people’s freedom and rights of speech and assembly.”
Two days later, Deng Bingqiang went to a radio station to meet with reporters after being interviewed, and was asked for his remarks on the Double Ten for the first time. Deng Bingqiang further said: “Taiwan is part of Chinese territory. Anyone who tries to do anything to encourage others to separate Taiwan from China may violate the Hong Kong National Security Law. Therefore, any relevant behavior should not be allowed.”
The matter is not over here. On September 29, a column in the “Ta Kung Pao” directly under the Beijing government’s Hong Kong agency stated: “Taiwan is part of the Chinese territory, and the so-called celebration of’Double Ten’ is actually’celebration of the National Day of the Republic of China.’ The intention of splitting out. Hong Kong citizens should recognize the nature of “Double Ten” and refrain from participating in illegal activities.”
The successive warnings made the pro-Taiwan groups feel sudden and incomprehensible. Li Guoqiang told BBC Chinese: “Hong Kong has actually celebrated Double Ten for decades. Even if it returns, it has been celebrated for more than 20 years. No one has ever said that if you celebrate Double Ten, you are intending to split China.”
“In fact, we have close contacts with the Kuomintang, and Hong Kong people still support Sun Yat-sen more conceptually. Sun Yat-sen supports reunification.”
“Therefore, whether you feel aggrieved or not, it is true. It is impossible to celebrate Double Ten in a Chinese place. We don’t think it makes any sense.”
The “Ta Kung Pao” article signed by Zhu Suiyi stated that “the various acts of the Taiwan authorities to disrupt Hong Kong and seek’independence’ are still vividly visible”, although most of the personnel stationed in Taiwan’s Hong Kong agencies have been withdrawn in the “No. 1 China Commitment” storm. , But “but still intends to use related groups and persons as’agents’ to realize their unfinished political functions”, questioning that these people are “agents of political organizations in Taiwan” under the definition of “Hong Kong National Security Law Article 43 Implementation Rules” “.
Being an “agent of a political organization in Taiwan” is not a crime in itself, but if the national security law enforcement department determines that an individual or organization is an “agent”, it can cite the “Implementation Rules” to submit documents and other documents to examine whether it is guilty of the “Hong Kong National Security Law”. List crimes. Refusal to submit documents, or the information is false, incorrect or incomplete, it is a crime under the “Implementation Rules.”
Since the establishment of mutual offices between Taiwan and Hong Kong in 2011, the Hong Kong and Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, which replaced China Travel Service-the actual MAC Hong Kong office-is usually the organizer. The BBC Chinese reporter learned from pro-Taiwan groups that they have not received invitations to the reception this year, and I believe they have been unmanned.
On the day the “Ta Kung Pao” article was published, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of China, responded for the first time to the Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council’s criticism of Deng Bingqiang’s remarks. Zhu Fenglian said: “We firmly support the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s administration according to law, and resolutely defeat the’Taiwan independence’ forces’ attempts to chase Hong Kong to seek’independence’.”
Double standard?
“Sing Tao Daily” published Deng Bingqiang’s interview. On the day of Deng Bingqiang’s interview, a number of pro-Beijing groups organized a “Hong Kong Conference to Commemorate the 110th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911”. The guests included Liang Zhenying, Vice Chairman of the Chinese National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Luo Yonggang, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office in Hong Kong, and the Central Government of China. Sun Qingye, deputy director of the National Security Agency in Hong Kong, and Pan Yundong, deputy commissioner of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong, and others.
On October 9, Beijing held the “Meeting to Commemorate the 110th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911”, and Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, “delivered an important speech.” Wang Yang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which presided over the meeting, said that “representatives from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan” attended the meeting.
Xi Jinping’s speech stated: “The division of’Taiwan independence’ is the biggest obstacle to the reunification of the motherland and a serious hidden danger to national rejuvenation. Those who forget their ancestors, betray the motherland, or split the country will never end well, and they will definitely be cast aside by the people and history. Trial!”
In response to the question of whether there is a “double standard” raised by the outside world, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Security Bureau said in response to a written inquiry from the BBC: , Which obviously includes’Taiwan independence’ separatist activities or other illegal changes to Taiwan’s legal status as part of the People’s Republic of China. The SAR government will deal with the actions or operations of groups in Hong Kong in accordance with the laws of the SAR.”
The reply also stated: “If there is sufficient evidence to prove that a group, organization or person violated the “Hong Kong National Security Law” or other laws in Hong Kong, we will follow up in accordance with the law.”
However, the Security Bureau’s written reply did not answer some questions, including whether the Chinese Kuomintang is considered an illegal organization under the Hong Kong National Security Act, and whether the Hong Kong pro-KMT overseas Chinese group has been listed as a target for bans under the Hong Kong National Security Act, etc. .
Su Weiye, a professor in the Department of Public Administration at the National Chengchi University in Taiwan, said that the characterization of “Taiwan independence” in Hong Kong’s celebration of Double Ten this time is just an excuse, and the core of the problem is “punishing the heart.”
Su Weiye told a BBC Chinese reporter: “I think the government will first designate some people when dealing with any issue. No matter what you do, it will feel that your motives are impure and unpredictable.”
“You have to celebrate, even if you say that you are not celebrating the Republic of China, but celebrating the 110th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911, I’m sorry, because of your personal identity, you will label it as a small act because you are an opposition party.”
“Rapid Decline”
In the short period of two years from the “anti-transmission” demonstration to the 110th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, the space for activities of the pro-KMT groups in the name of the “Free Overseas Chinese Group” has shrunk sharply in Hong Kong. Choked.
“This decline may be caused by many factors. The first may be attributed to ourselves. Our rightist group is not too strong and lacks strength. The second is the influence of the political environment and the influence of the cross-strait environment.”
BBC Chinese has invited the Chinese Kuomintang to comment on the situation of the Hong Kong Lanying Overseas Chinese Group under the “Hong Kong National Security Law” and the celebration of the Double Ten Festival being labeled as “Taiwan Independence”, but it has not received a reply until the deadline.
In the past year, many non-governmental organizations belonging to the pan-democratic faction in the political spectrum have announced their dissolution under the Hong Kong National Security Law, including the Hong Kong Education Professionals Association (Education Association) and the Hong Kong Trade Union Union (Trade Union). Li Guoqiang also felt a certain amount of pressure, but for the time being he still felt that the Hong Kong and Kowloon Industrial Complex would continue to exist.
Li Guoqiang said: “There is a saying in Cantonese:’Killing a dog depends on the face of the owner.’ If you use the “National Security Law” to deal with us and narrow our space, the Kuomintang will also feel that it is not a taste. If it is (Taiwan) ) Some people on the island publicized it again: “Look! What has become of this “one country, two systems”? “How can the Kuomintang continue to support it? How can we continue to talk with it (the CCP)?”